Heading into the Florida Legislature’s 2026 session, quashing illegal immigration remains a headlining agenda item for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-dominated state House and Senate.
Here are some of the bills to keep an eye on.
SB 1380/HB 1307
Sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Martin and Rep. Berny Jacques, these bills represent the largest immigration package filed so far for this session.
The provisions include:
- Fines for employers who ignore their workers’ documentation status.
- Criminal charges for hiring more than 50 undocumented immigrants.
- Rebuttable presumption that undocumented out-of-state drivers are at-fault in car accidents.
- Denying undocumented immigrants bank loans.
- Requires law enforcement investigating car accidents to verify whether the parties are legally in the country.
- Bans translators or interpreters in licensing procedures.
- Creates penalties for failing to use E-Verify ahead of submitting worker compensation claims.
SB 1542
Very similar to Martin’s and Jacques’ legislation, this bill was filed Friday by Sen. Jason Pizzo, an independent. His bill would create fines for employers who fail to use E-Verify at all — not just those who don’t do so in filing workers’ compensation claims.
It would also require law enforcement to use E-Verify to investigate a detained person’s immigration status, and bans businesses that have violated the bill from ever receiving any public contract in the future with any public agency in this state.
SB 1052
Filed by Sen. Erin Grall, this bill instructs public colleges and universities to exclusively admit students who are “citizen[s] of the United States” or “lawfully present therein.”
It would prevent migrants illegally in the country from participating in state-funded adult general education programs, which include classes for GED and English as a second language that help “adult learners gain the knowledge and skills they need to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.”
HB 197/SB 1278
Proposed by Rep. Berny Jacques and Sen. Jonathan Martin, these bills require every business to use E-Verify, a federal database verifying a worker’s immigration status.
This expands a 2023 law that mandated E-Verify for public employers and businesses with at least 25 employees. Now, all businesses regardless of private/public status or number of employees must use the database, the bill says.
HB 991
Sponsored by Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka and Rep. Dana Trabulsy, this bill would require new Florida voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship.
The measure also:
- Requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
- Mandates that the Florida Department of State review existing voter registrations for citizenship status and forward names to supervisors of elections to request proof of eligibility from voters.
- Requires driver’s licenses and state ID cards to display citizenship status.
- Expands information-sharing on citizenship status between the Department of State, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), and jury coordinators.
- Creates a new post-election audit process.
- Makes changes to the recount process.
- Makes new restrictions on campaign contributions from foreign nationals
HB 985
Filed by Rep. Berny Jacques, this bill is very similar to Persons-Mulicka’s bill.
The measure:
- Requires election supervisors to verify citizenship status by using the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements or “SAVE” program administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- Mandates election supervisors “who have determined that false affirmations have been made on a voter registration application” to refer the application to the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security.
- Information received by the DHSMV indicating that a registered voter has received a driver’s license in another state “shall be considered a written request from the voter to have his or her name removed from the statewide voter registration system.”
- Narrows the list of IDs that can be used at the polls.
- Adds new requirements for voters who registered using a Florida ID.
- Expands the use of provisional ballots for voters whose citizenship can’t be verified.
- Creates additional steps for vote-by-mail requests.
- Florida IDs and driver licenses issued to non-citizens must be marked “NC” on the front.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
